CFRN-DT - History

History

Signing on at 3:00 p.m. on October 25, 1954 on channel 3 with 27,400 watts of power, with one live camera presentation from the transmitter room, CFRN-TV became Alberta's second TV station and its second CBC Television affiliate. The station was owned by Dr. G.R.A. "Dick" Rice’s Sunwapta Broadcasting Ltd. (Sunwapta is the Stony Indian word meaning “radiating waves”.) Rice was a pioneer Edmonton broadcaster who put CFRN-AM, the city's first radio station, on the air in 1922.

Long time Edmontonians still reminisce about such programs as the Noon Show of the 1950s-60s with Don Brinton, Ed Kay, Norris McLean and George Kidd. Morning Magazine started when the station went on the air in 1954 with Laura Lindsay, who was followed by Virginia Macklin. It became Day by Day with Terry Lynne Meyer, who was replaced in 1994 by Seanna Collins. This show halted production June 30, 1996. CFRN-TV is proud of its news heritage and the fact they were the first TV station to do editorials. They were started by news manager, Bill Hogle and continued by Bruce Hogle.

In December 1956, two years after its inaugural telecast, CFRN-TV increased power to 180,300 watts video and 90,400 watts audio. In 1958, CFRN-TV fed live the opening of the Alberta Legislature, by microwave to a five station Alberta Network. In June 1961, re-broadcasting stations were established at Edson and Carrot Creek.

September 30, 1961 was the last telecast as a CBC affiliate, with that network establishing its own station in Edmonton, CBXT. On October 1 of that year, CFRN-TV became an affiliate of the CTV Network via microwave network in hours when the CBC was not using it, and time-delaying programs via videotape. Two more rebroadcasting stations were added at Whitecourt and Ashmont in 1966.

Also in 1966, network colour transmission started in September, with local colour facilities for program and commercial production being installed in 1970, and a mobile colour television unit became operational in 1975. More rebroadcasting stations were added at Lac La Biche (1968), Grande Prairie and Peace River (1970), Rocky Mountain House and Crimson Lake (1971), Red Deer (1973) and Slave Lake, Grouard and Lougheed (1979), Jasper (1992) and Athabasca (1993). In 1974, CFRN-TV moved its transmitter to a new site with a 915-foot tower, with 250,000 watts video.

CFRN-TV was sold in 1988 to another pioneering Canadian Company, Electrohome Limited of Kitchener, Ontario founded by a contemporary, Carl A. Pollock. Starting in 1990, CFRN-TV established regional newscasts with reporters/photographers located in Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray and Red Deer. Twice each weeknight, regional newscasts within the body of Eyewitness News were simultaneously directed to the three aforementioned areas of Alberta. On February 25, 1992, Rice died in his 92nd year.

In 1995, Electrohome and Baton Broadcasting entered into a strategic alliance which saw both groups receiving CRTC approval to share ownership of the CFCN-TV operations in Calgary and Lethbridge, the six Saskatchewan TV stations previously owned by Baton alone, and Southern Ontario stations in Kitchener, London and Windsor, all previously solely-owned by Electrohome or Baton.

Ownership of CFRN-TV changed in 1997, when Baton and Electrohome merged, with Baton assuming Electrohome's stations in exchange for Baton shares. In February 2000, Canadian telecommunications giant Bell Canada Enterprises, through its subsidiary Bell GlobeMedia, proposed to purchase CTV Inc. for $2.3 billion, the largest transaction in Canadian broadcasting. Later in March the CTV board approved the deal, which required Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval. The CRTC hearing was held in September and was approved on December 7.

By 2001, CFRN-TV operated CFRN-TV-7 Lougheed; CFRN-TV-3 Whitecourt and its transmitters CFRN-TV-1 Grande Prairie, CFRN-TV-2 Peace River, CFRN-TV-8 Grouard Mission, CFRN-TV-9 Slave Lake and CFRN-TV-11 Jasper; CFRN-TV-4 Ashmont and its transmitters CFRN-TV-5 Lac La Biche and CFRN-TV-12 Athabasca; and CFRN-TV-6 Red Deer and its transmitter CFRN-TV-10 Rocky Mountain House.

On July 21, 2006, the CRTC approved an application for ownership restructuring by Bell Globemedia (BGM), parent company of CTV, stemming from a deal in December 2005 that saw two new investors added to the company. The Thomson family's Woodbridge Co. Ltd. increased its stake in BGM to 40 per cent from 31.5 per cent, while BCE Inc. reduced its holding to 20 per cent from 68.5 per cent. Two other investors were added to the deal, including Torstar Corp. and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, each with 20 per cent.

On October 3, 2006, the CRTC granted CFRN to change the licence for CFRN-TV-4 Ashmont by deleting the CFRN-TV-12 Athabasca transmitter and attaching it to CFRN-TV. This was due to a change in the method of delivering the signal, plus local relevance.

In February 2008, CTV Edmonton launched a new web site as part of the CTV.ca Broadband Network, ctvedmonton.ca. This brought the station in line with all the other broadcast television stations in Edmonton, as well as the other major market CTV stations, in terms of having a strong online news presence.

In December 2008, the CRTC announced that it received an application from CTVglobemedia to create a direct to cable HD feed of CFRN-TV.